Vicki Penwell is a licensed midwife who has practiced for 42 years in Alaska, Mexico and Southeast Asia. She lives in the Philippines, where in 1991 she founded  the non-profit charitable organization Mercy In Action Vineyard, Inc that establishes birth centers in low-resource, high-mortality countries, and trains midwives with a global focus. Outcomes of almost 18,000 births in the Philippines using the International Childbirth Initiative 12 Steps model have been excellent, with mortality well below that of the nation. Penwell, who holds a Master's Degree in Midwifery and a Master's Degree in Intercultural Studies, has been teaching midwifery globally since 1981. Vicki's lifetime work with Mercy In Action is featured in a chapter in Birth Models That Work (2009), and her disaster relief work was highlighted in the book Sustainable Birth in Disruptive Times (2021). In addition, Vicki is an ordained minister in the Vineyard Christian Fellowship and just finished her dissertation for a Doctor of Ministry in Creative Leadership degree at Central Seminary.